The Word – autumn winter listings

The Word, National Centre for the Written Word has exhibitions and whole host of events and activities to enjoy during October half term and the Christmas period, including: –

Exhibition:

Amazing Space

Until Sunday 23 February 2020

FREE

Suitable for all ages

The Word’s out-of-this-world exhibition marks 50 years since man first set foot on the Moon. Explore both Space fact and fiction, discover the stories inspired by Space and watch clips from classic science-fiction movies old and new.

Take ‘one small step’ inside the astronaut’s spacesuit and replicate the photograph taken on the first Moon landing, or head to the Command Module and watch a short film all about life as an astronaut – the good, the bad and the occasionally unpleasant!

Solve the Space-scene jigsaw and listen to a selection of Space-themed music. See costumes from Star Trek and Star Wars and marvel at an original Washington Post newspaper dated the day after the 1969 Moon landing, which has been signed by legendary astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

Supported by Arts Council England.

Celebrating 25 years of The Customs House Pantomime

28 September – 5 January 2020

Free

Suitable for all ages

This year marks the 25^th anniversary of The Customs House pantomime and to celebrate, The Word will be opening a FREE exhibition dedicated to ‘The Little Panto with The Big Heart’.

Discover the history of the panto and where it began, the traditions and the writing of the script. Find out about the panto performers, the designing of the costumes and set, plus so much more! You can also post a joke that may get read out during this year’s panto – Snow White.

For more information: www.theworduk.org

Word Bank of Lost Dialects

Until 5 January 2020

Free

Suitable for all ages

A celebration of the thousands of North East dialect words donated during The Word’s original Lost Dialects exhibition, Word Bank of Lost Dialects is an exhibition by artists Jane Glennie and Robert Good which invites you to interact with the donated words. You can also view Rowan McCabe’s Lost Dialect Poems, which are all about South Shields, which he completed as part of his residency at The Word.

For more information: www.theworduk.org

October Half Term @ The Word

Halloween Arts and Crafts

Monday 28 October & Friday 1 November, 10-11am & 2.30-3.30pm

£1 per child. Tickets must be bought in person from Level 2 of The Word

Booking required

Children will enjoy creating a range of Halloween-themed crafts in these spook-tacular sessions.

For more information: www.theworduk.org

Design Your Own Halloween Pixel Art

Wednesday 30 October, 10am-12noon & 2-4pm

£3 per child. Suitable for children aged 7-11

Booking required

Children can design their own Halloween-themed pixel artwork in this interactive session and then watch as their creation is cut out on the laser cutters in The Word’s FabLab.

For more information and to book: www.theworduk.org

Fang-tastic Fun with 3D Pens

Wednesday 30 October, 11am-12noon

£2 per child. Suitable for children 8+ and an accompanying adult

Tickets must be bought in advance from Level 2 of The Word

Children can get creative and have lots of fun making spooktacular designs with 3D pens! Using the pens, children will layer up their design to make it 3D. They could create a mummy, a pumpkin, a witch, a skeleton or anything else Halloween-themed!

For more information: www.theworduk.org

Halloween MakEY Session

Wednesday 30 October, 2.30-3.30pm

£2 per child. Suitable for 3-8 year olds and an accompanying adult

Tickets must be bought in advance from Level 2 of The Word

Join The Word for thi Halloween-themed MakEY session where children will get the chance to make and play with a variety of materials.

For more information: www.theworduk.org

Spooktacular Halloween Stories

Thursday 31 October, 10.30am, 12.45pm & 2.15pm

£3.50 child, £2.50 adult, £10.50 family of 4, £1 children under 1

Suitable for under 7’s and their families

Booking required

Join The Word for an exciting storytelling session where friendly ghouls will come alive before your eyes as they are projected onto the walls in the immersive StoryWorld. Children will listen to tales of tricks and treats and enjoy a range of scare-tastic crafts and spooky games.

Why don’t you go along dressed up as your favourite Halloween character!

For more information and to book visit: www.theworduk.org

T-Shirt Making

Thursday 31 October 1-4pm

£12.50 per person (including t-shirt)

Suitable for ages 9-16

Booking required

Make your very own bespoke t-shirts in FabLab @ The Word! Whether it’s Halloween-themed or something completely different, you will create your own design using a vinyl cutter and then add this to your own t-shirt.

For more information and to book visit www.theworduk.org

Other events at The Word:

Lego© Fun with Bricks McGee

Saturday 5 & Sunday 6 October, drop-in between 11am-3pm

FREE. Suitable for 5+

Explore the universe at The Word’s Space-themed drop-in-and-play workshops. Create spaceships, rockets, aliens, moon bases and planets with the help of LEGO© super fan Bricks McGee.

For more information visit www.theworduk.org

FabLab @ The Word

Learn How to Laser Cut

Thursday 12 September, 3 October, 7 & 28 November, 1-4pm

£12.50 per person. Suitable for ages 16+

Step out of your comfort zone at The Word’s fantastic laser cutting session where you’ll learn how to create something amazing!

For more information and to book visit www.theworduk.org

Learn How to 3D Print

Thursday 19 September, Thursday 10 October, Thursday 14 November & Wednesday 4 December, 1-4pm

£12.50 per person. Suitable for ages 16+

Learn how 3D printers work and how to print designs. We will show you where you can find models to print and how to design your own.

For more information and to book visit www.theworduk.org

Learn How to Vinyl Cut

Thursday 26 September, Thursday 17 October, Thursday 21 November & Wednesday 11 December, 1-4pm

£12.50 per person. Suitable for ages 16+

Learn the basics of how a vinyl cutter works and gain experience in creating your own wall art and/ or designs for t-shirts!

For more information and to book visit www.theworduk.org

Events for adults:

History Wardrobe Presents… Wish You Were Here

Friday 6 September, 7-8.30pm

£6.50 per person. Suitable for ages 16+

Booking required

A happy history of swimwear, with fun stories and fabulous vintage costumes covering 200 years of seaside fashion.

For more information and to book visit: www.theworduk.org

Meet the artist – Robert Good

Saturday 14 September, 2-3pm

FREE. Suitable for ages 16+

Booking required

Meet one of the artists behind The Word’s hugely popular Word Bank of Lost Dialects exhibition – Robert Good. Robert will talk about the project, indexing 2,400 dialect words and phrases donated and share his thoughts on the curious and interesting words.

For more information visit www.theworduk.org

Creative Writing Course with Tracey Iceton

Thursday 19 September – 14 November, 10am-12noon

£75 per person for all 5 sessions. Suitable for 16+

These sessions will take place on 19 September, 3, 17 & 31 October and 14 November.

Booking required. To book email: traceyiceton@hotmail.co.uk

Author Tracey Iceton will introduce writers, new, emerging and experienced, to the main types of creative writing: fiction, poetry, script, creative non-fiction and articles.

For more information visit www.theworduk.org

Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy

Saturday 21 September, 1-3pm

£3.50 per person. Suitable for ages 16+

Booking required

The Word will be running a sci-fi writing competition as part of WRITE Festival 2020 and this workshop will help you develop your skills before submitting an entry. The competition is now open and submissions must be in by Monday 9 December 2019.

For more information and to book visit: www.theworduk.org

An Audience with Glenda Young

Saturday 12 October, 2-3pm

£2 per person. Suitable for ages 16+

Booking required

Enjoy an afternoon with author Glenda Young as she discusses her novel ‘The Tuppenny Child’.

For more information and to book visit: www.theworduk.org

Being a Detective- With Stuart Gibbon

Fri 25 October, 6.30-8pm

£3.50 per person. Suitable for ages 16+

Booking required

Stuart Gibbon will be joining The Word to discuss his career as a writing consultant and his co-written books on true crime and the role of the detective.

For more information and to book visit: www.theworduk.org

The Suggestibles

Friday 1 November, 7-9pm

£8.50 per person. Suitable for ages 18+

You supply the suggestions. They supply the laughs! The Suggestibles show is a speeding rollercoaster of improvised games, skits, sketches and songs – including ‘Aspect Of…’ their ingenious improvised musical in the second half.  

For more information and to book visit: www.theworduk.org

History Wardrobe Presents… Ready for Action

Fri 8 November, 7-8.30pm

£6.50 per person. Suitable for ages 16+

Booking required

Historian Lucy Adlington links costumes and stories following her new costume history book, Ready for Action, a unique insight into the experiences of women worldwide during World War Two and the aftermath.

For more information and to book visit: www.theworduk.org

Christmas @ The Word:

Christmas Card Booth

Saturday 30 November, drop-in between 10am-4pm

£5 for the first Christmas card and £3 for any further copies

Suitable for all ages

Choose from a range of festive storybook backgrounds and through the magic of green screen you can appear in your own Christmas card. For an added bit of magic, wear your Christmas jumpers and Santa hats!

For more information visit www.theworduk.org

Christmas Laser Fun

Saturday 30 November, 10am-12.30pm

£10.50 per child. Suitable for ages 8+

Booking required

Children will learn how to design and create a selection of festive items using the laser cutters in The Word’s FabLab. They can create a gift for someone special or make something for themselves.

For more information and to book visit www.theworduk.org

Create a Christmas Box

Saturday 30 November 1-4pm

£20 per person. Suitable for ages 16+

Booking required

Get in the festive spirit and create your own Christmas box! Add a personalised message and watch as its cut out on the laser cutters in FabLab.

For more information and to book visit www.theworduk.org

Christmas Choirs

Various dates throughout late November and December

The Word will be joined by a range of choirs in the run up to Christmas who will fill the Atrium with festive spirit as they sing carols for all to enjoy.

For more information visit www.theworduk.org

Christmas Arts and Crafts

Saturday 7, 14 & 21 December, drop-in between 11am-1pm

50p-£1 per craft

Join The Word for festive craft sessions in the atrium where children can enjoy creating a range of Christmas-themed crafts.

For more information visit www.theworduk.org

Christmas Tales

Saturday 7, 14 & 21 December, 10.30am, 12.45pm and 2.15pm

£3.50 per child, £2.50 per adult, £10.50 family of 4, £1 children under 1

Suitable for under 7’s and their families

Booking required

Step into Christmas at The Word’s festive StoryWorld sessions. The Christmas storyteller will tell magical tales in these unique storytelling sessions as some favourite Christmas characters are projected onto the walls. Children will sing festive songs, get crafty and play Christmas games!

For more information and to book visit: www.theworduk.org

Create and Design for Christmas

Saturday 7 & 14 December, drop-in between 10am-3pm

£4 per creation. Suitable for all ages

These drop-in sessions give children the chance to see their design made in front of their eyes on the laser cutters in The Word’s FabLab. It could be Christmas related or something completely different!

For more information visit www.theworduk.org